Write Where You Are: How to Use Writing to Make Sense of Your Life : A Guide for Teens

Provides advice and exercises to enable individuals to become more confident and more competent writers

Grade 9 Up-This creative writing guide is also billed as self-help for teens. It begins by laying the groundwork with essential vocabulary and basic techniques, follows with exercises intended to get young people to know and like themselves while learning the craft of writing, and finishes up with sections on the necessity of revision and on publication or sharing. Quotes from classic and young adult authors on the writing life appear in the margins. Sample "answers" to exercises written by real teens are liberally sprinkled throughout the text, and nearly every important subsection lists a book or two for further reading. A couple of the author's metaphors for getting around writing blocks or problems are vague and thus less helpful than they might be. However, with its conversational tone and well-constructed exercises sure to get even reluctant writers excited about writing, this is an excellent guide for any YA collection.
Timothy Capehart, Leominster Public Library, MA
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